Spider-Man: Farewell Performance
"Farewell Performance" is the second segment of the thirteenth episode of Spider-Man. It originally aired on ABC on December 2, 1967. Plot The segment opens with Peter outside the old Castle Theater to get pictures of it before it gets torn down. An elderly couple, James Boothe and Emily Thorndike, who performed there in different acts and performances, reminisce on their glory days in the theater. Soon, Peter's spider senses go off. The reason, the picture of Mr. Hyde on the wall comes right at the three straight from the poster. Later, Mr. Jameson gets word of the Castle Theater being haunted by a ghost. But he does not believe it, and explains that the theater being torn down is part of a city-wide beautification campaign, and Jameson wants to make sure that it gets torn down, ghost or no ghost. Back at the theater, the demolition is about to begin. However, strange things start happening. The wrecking ball at the end of a crane arm turns into a balloon, a sledgehammer gets turned into a feather duster, a steel crowbar turns into a candy cane, and a saw turns into an parasol. The demolition crew sees everything, they get spooked, and really start thinking the place is haunted. Later, Jameson gets a call from the demolition team about what they saw, but Jameson tells them that there's no such thing as ghosts. It's clear that Jameson is set on that theater coming down, and claims there's "not a ghost alive" that can stop him. This gives Peter an idea. Peter heads to the cleaning closet, puts on his Spider-Man costume, and heads to the Castle Theater. Once he arrives, Spider-Man theorizes that maybe Blackwell the Magician could be behind the hauntings. After Spider-Man steps inside, his spider senses start going off. Meanwhile, behind the drama masks over the stage, Mr. Boothe and Ms. Thorndike watch. Spider-Man swings onto the stage, and gets some applause, from none other than Blackwell. The magician then admits that he truly is behind the hauntings, and sends Spidey the dove of peace, but the dove is turned into a giant hawk that begins to attack Spider-Man. The webbed wonder manages to trap the bird, but Blackwell works his magic again, and soon disappears. However, it's not long before Spider-Man's spider senses kick in, and just in time as a sandbag drops down. Spider-Man heads up into the rafters above the stage, only for the catwalk to collapse. Then, Blackwell sends a cannonball towards Spider-Man, but misses. Another cannonball after another is sent toward the hero, and the same results occur every time. Then, Spider-Man webs up Blackwell, but he manages to escape by using a trick he taught Houdini. Soon, a giant box comes down, with Blackwell supposedly inside it. Spider-Man opens it, but finds that there's no one inside, though his spider sense says otherwise. With that, Spider-Man is trapped, with Blackwell ready to throw axes at him. However, Blackwell misses and Spidey escapes. But when Spider-Man spots Blackwell sitting in the front row of the theater, Blackwell waves his wand and switches places with the wall crawler, and Thorndike and Boothe come out, holding the trapped Spider-Man at knife and gunpoint while Blackwell puts on a magic show. After the show, Spider-Man breaks loose and discovers that Thorndike and Boothe's weapons were made of wood and rubber. The trio of performers reveal their real motives, to save the old theater from being torn down. Spider-Man agrees to help, but they have to do everything he says. The first thing to do is for them to contact a rival newspaper, and tell Jameson that Spider-Man agrees with the demolition of the theater. Jameson, furious, changes his mind and dedicates his paper to the preservation of the Castle Theater for all prosperity, claiming he was just "trying to point up their real value" as the segment and episode ends with Spider-Man listening in from the outside. Category:Episodes of TV shows Category:Ghosts